The traditional game of tic-tac-toe is a simple, readily learned game. Little playing strategy is required. As a result, traditional tic-tac-toe does not appeal to a large number of people. And those who do play the game seldom play it more than a few times in succession, since only a minimal level of challenge is presented.
The game of chess, on the other hand, is a highly sophisticated and complex game. A lengthy period of time is required to complete a single game. For these reasons, chess is played mainly by a comparatively small number of highly devoted and motivated followers of the game. Chess therefore fails to appeal to the masses for different reasons than tic-tac-toe.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,040 (Smith) discloses a three dimensional tic-tac-toe game apparatus. The three dimensional nature of the game adds complexity and sophistication to tic-tac-toe. This in turn stimulates player interest and increases the market appeal of the game beyond that of the basic tic-tac-toe game. However, three dimensional tic-tac-toe still falls far short of the complexity and mental challenge which are intrinsic to the game of chess.
Other adaptations and modifications of the basic tic-tac-toe game are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,588,113 (Nelson), 3,747,926 (Odom), 3,889,953 (Grasham). Each of these three tic-tac-toe modifications adds further complexity to stimulate player interest and enjoyment of the game.
Yet none of these known tic-tac-toe games are played on a conventional two dimensional board and require that a player plan one more ahead in order to successfully produce score generating combinations of playing pieces on the board. This requirement for planning at least one move ahead would vastly increase the enjoyment and challenge of tic-tac-toe without substantially increasing the amount of time required to complete a single game.